Sophomore Brenden Smith pitches at home. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department. 

The Hillsdale baseball team lost three of four games at home against the University of Findlay April 17-20 before losing 13-8 to No. 14 ranked Wayne State University April 21, moving its overall record to 18-23 and its conference record to 12-12. 

“We had a few opportunities to win Games 3 and 4 against the first-place team and simply couldn’t capitalize,” head coach Tom Vessella said. “If a few bounces go our way, we would be in a very different position in conference. My hope is that a day like this motivates the guys going into this upcoming weekend which can make or break our season.”

After taking a 21-2 loss in the first game Friday, the Chargers won the second game 5-3.

Sophomore Will Lehman opened the scoring with an RBI single in a five-run first inning, capped off by junior Aaron Jasiak reaching on an error and driving in a run.

Junior Jacob Pallo pitched five innings of three-run ball for the win, and sophomore Josh Novak threw two scoreless innings to earn the save.

“We were able to take advantage of some Findlay mishaps in Game 2 and score those 5 runs right away in the first, and Pallo and Novak pitched very well to secure that win,” sophomore Gaard Swenson said.

The Chargers lost both games on Monday, 6-4 and 4-3, respectively.

“Especially in Games 2-4, we were able to put the Findlay pitchers under some pressure,” Swenson said. “We’re starting to overcome our strikeout problem that we had earlier in the year as an offense. Findlay is a good team, and we played them close, and I have confidence in our guys the next time we face them.”

Pallo said he is happy with the overall performance of the pitching staff in the series.

“Our staff competed very well minus the first game,” Pallo said. “Collectively, everyone did their jobs to keep us in every ball game. We definitely had our chances to win over the course of Games 3 and 4, but we just never could put it all together. It was great to see that we could compete in the zone against a good hitting team like Findlay.”

Pallo said the competitiveness of the pitching staff has improved over the course of the season.

“We have multiple guys every weekend who are giving an extra inning if needed, or doing whatever they can to help the team win,” Pallo said. “As a staff, especially the last two weekends, we have pitched very well, with one game exception. Everyone who has thrown has put us in a spot to win and it is great to see.”  

The Chargers will play a four-game series at home against Tiffin University April 24-26, concluding with Senior Day at 12 p.m. on Sunday.